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The first thing to know about Santa Inc. is that it is definitely not the usual children's stop-motion feature. Stop-motion pictures are ingrained in Christmas traditions. But they are exclusively targeted towards children. HBO Max brings to its adult audience the first ever adult stop motion picture, Santa Inc.
Santa Inc. is crude and raunchy, even cynical to some extent. But it's never wholly abandoning the holiday spirit. The show was intended to be more subversive than entertaining, by portraying Santa and his toy factory in a different light
Note: This article contains minor spoilers.
Summary of the series
Santa Inc. starts with Santa's second-in-command, Brent, leaving his job to work for Amazon. Without a successor, Santa is worried. His board of directors are pressuring him to choose a successor, and that is when Candy, the elf, starts dreaming big. Candy was under Brent's command, but with him gone, she took charge as chief of operations. This means that there could be a possibility of her taking over Santa's role and going down in history as the first female Santa ever.
Candy makes her proposal to Santa, who promises to be progressive and liberal. He takes into account her proposition. But as Candy strives harder to achieve her goal, she stumbles on dark secrets. In her ambitious struggle, Candy loses her friends, family and even her own self and becomes more like those cold-blooded corporates, losing sight of her goals.
But sadly, Candy, who was so sure of victory, does not get the position. Devin, her intern, was named Santa's successor. Crestfallen, her visions become clear once more and she decides to start a revolution and right all the wrongs that were going on behind closed doors in Santa's factory.
Why is 'Santa Inc.' a stop-motion?
Santa Inc. is an animated stop-motion that tells a very adult story, but in the facade of Christmas. It employs very relevant themes like misogyny at the corporate level, workplace harassment and women's struggles in reaching the top when they are constantly excluded and underestimated.
The stop-motion animation is a very important component in moving the story along. It manages to soften the blows that the seemingly jolly Christmas story chooses to deliver, regarding the realities of the corporate capitalistic world through the facade of a children's story.
The series also features a lot of R-rated scenes, nudity and raunchy jokes. It seems a little surreal to be presented with so much adult content through a medium primarily directed towards children.
Catch the new adult Christmas series Santa Inc. now playing exclusively on HBO Max.
